My dad was more than a father to me; he was my friend and confidant (知己) and one of the most amazing people in my life. So when he passed away suddenly from a stroke at the age of 51, my world fell apart. I was lost, along with my mother who had been with my father since age 16, two brothers, and everyone who knew him. We were thrown into a thick fog of anger, sadness, and shock.
I cried every night and tried to hold onto all my memories of him. I replayed every moment I could remember — writing down thoughts, printing out old e-mails, reading old birthday cards — anything I could hang on to because I didn’t want to forget. As I was going through all these old memories, I began to wonder about all the things I had missed. My dad was a quiet man who was known for his listening skills, his patience, his humor, and his smile. He was often the one listening instead of telling stories. I wanted to know what stories I had missed by losing him so soon. So I decided to compile (编纂) a memory book as a surprise Christmas gift for my mom and brothers.
I started my project in November, contacting everyone I knew who was close to my dad or had been in the past. I sent e-mails and letters asking for friends and family of Gary Force to send me their thoughts and memories of him. I asked them specifically to share funny stories about my dad and the stories that maybe no one had ever heard or had long forgotten. I told them to respond no later than one week before Christmas. I waited and waited and got very few responses by December. I began to wonder if this was a horrible idea or if anyone even cared.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
And then the responses started pouring in.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I gave it to my family as the last gift on Christmas Day.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________What a great year we had had! A new baby daughter, a job promotion (晋升) for my husband, and a new home were among what we had received. My husband and I were grateful for them. We wanted no gifts for Christmas, because our cups were running over. So my husband and I decided to teach them to learn to share.
After dinner, we talked about doing something special for someone else at Christmas. Our oldest son said, “Why don’t we find a family who needs help and give them presents?”
All of us were excited about the idea. We didn’t know exactly how we find our “Christmas family”, but we did know we wanted to help. The next morning I made calls to friends who might know of someone in need. That evening at dinner I described the family I had found. The father was a repairman but lost his job two weeks before. He hadn’t landed a new job yet. There were three children in the family. The wife gave birth to a new baby, who was the same age as ours. But unluckily, the baby had been taking many tests as doctors tried to determine why she wasn’t developing properly. They had spent almost all their savings on the treatment, with little for daily necessities. They were in great trouble. Of course, they had little hope of having gifts for Christmas.
“Can we give them some of our clothes?” asked our daughter. We all agreed that her idea was good, and so the children ran to their bedrooms and began sorting out the clothes they had outgrown. But my husband and I knew that clothes were not enough.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
On Christmas Eve, my family went for holiday shopping.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Then we were off to deliver Christmas gifts to our special family.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sharing New Year with Strangers
I come from a large multicultural family, spread out across the globe. Despite being found in distant corners of the world, we’re a tight-knit family that makes an effort to stay close and keep in touch. New Year has always been a special time for us and a chance for us all to come together, no matter where in the world we might be.
My aunt Samantha, known affectionately by everyone in the family as Mantha, loved New Year and always went out of her way to make it cosy and magical for everyone around her. Mantha was kind, fun and full of energy so it wasn’t hard to get into the New Year spirit when she was around.
This year was no exception. Mantha drove three hours from her house in Bournemouth to visit everyone two weeks before New Year and to drop off presents to her friends still in the area. We chatted merrily about our plans, laughed at how organized Mantha was — presents already bought and wrapped and the freezer full ahead of the big day — and kissed goodbye when it was time to leave. So just several days before New Year, when Mantha’s son called us saying Samantha had passed away suddenly at home, none of us could quite believe it. I’d only been messaging her the day before, sharing voice notes like we always liked to do.
Mantha had had a blood clot (血块) that had unfortunately travelled to her lung and despite the paramedic’s best efforts, they were unable to save my beloved, fun, wonderful aunt.
So close to New Year, none of us felt like celebrating and we decided we’d have a quiet day at home, surrounded by family. The silence lasted until my sister-in-law, Vera, told us about some colleagues of hers who’d just arrived in the UK far away from friends and family. And they were eager to experience a proper English New Year.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 开头已给出。
Paragraph 1:
Hearing this, we were in a dilemma.
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When the day finally came, we welcomed them into our house.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I always think of my mother as a superhero, because she never runs out of room in her heart for anyone or anything.
I could write about all of the wonderful things she has done, but I want to focus on one project she does every year that has shaped my whole family and everyone around us: She saves money, and she puts it in a little jar (罐子) that we refer to as “The Charity Jar”. Every year, she takes this money and puts it toward something—an act of kindness, anything that can help someone. Sometimes, she buys something for an organization that needs it.
If you ask her about this tradition, she will tell you that she is carrying on something that her mother used to do around the holidays. If you ask anyone else who knows her, however, they will tell you that she has a huge heart. She manages to get our whole family involved (参与) in this movement every year. Last year, she helped an organization where I volunteered—Ruth’s Place—a homeless women’s shelter in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
I had been helping a professor run a writing workshop in the shelter when I noticed the wish list on the wall: warm clothes, a coffee maker and supplies. I told my mom, and within a day, she had already asked if our family wanted to help Ruth’s Place. We all agreed and decided that the coffee maker and supplies would be the best things for our family to work on together.
A few days later, Mom found a coffee maker online, and showed it to us. With a few clicks, it was on its way. She also baked(烘焙) fresh chocolate cupcakes for the women in the shelter. We gathered the rest of the supplies and called the shelter to find a day when we could deliver them.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
That day I drove my mom to the shelter very slowly. _______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As we left, we were met with heartfelt thanks. _____________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Alice, you spend too much time on your phone,” her father said. “You need to focus on your studies.”
“But Dad, I’m doing my best,” Alice replied. “I’m balancing my phone time with my studies.”
In the tense meal, Alice and her parents argued about her recent changes. They were focused on her increased attachment to her phone and its impact on her studies. Her parents were concerned that she was neglecting (忽视) her studies and worried about the impact it might have on her future. They felt that her attachment to the phone was taking her away from her studies.
Alice said, “I know you’re worried about me, but I’m trying my best. I just want to have some fun with my friends and take a break from studying sometimes.” However, her parents didn’t seem to understand or accept her explanation. They felt that she needed to focus more on her studies and less on the phone.
The argument escalated (升级) when Alice announced that she wanted to leave the science club she had been a member of for years to join a new social media club. Alice explained, “I’m not sure if leaving the science club was a right decision or not. I just feel like I need a change.” Her mother was shocked and said angrily, “You made this decision without thinking it through. You’ve done well in the science club, and you have a lot of potential to go further. You’ll regret it if you don’t keep going.”
After that argument, Alice, feeling increasingly frustrated, withdrew into herself and spent more time in her room. She started to avoid her parents as much as possible and didn’t want to talk to them about anything related to her studies or her future.
Her parents saw that the little girl who had come back laughing and talking was gone, and now they saw a face that was alternately angry and sad. She did spend less time on her phone, but she became increasingly unhappy.
注意：1.续写词数应为150个左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
One night, Alice’s parents knocked on the girl’s door and said they wanted to talk to her.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At this point, Alice seemed to see some hope of joining the social media club.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After over 10 years of dreaming and planning and 18 months of very serious considering, my husband and I finally bought a farmhouse about a mile from where I grew up. Neither my husband, David, nor myself had any experience with decoration, but we jumped in with much excitement. There was much to be done before the winter came to knock at our door. We rearranged the garden, laid out the lawn (草坪), and set all the furniture in place. Then there remained only one thing to worry us: We didn’t have a fireplace (壁炉) indoors against the extremely winter.
I knew the perfect choice of person for the work is my uncle, Richard Jones. Being a senior construct worker (建筑工人) for almost 40 years, he could do the job better than anyone else. On thinking of the idea that my house would be in my uncle’s hands, my heart was filled with expectation and comfort. The problem was that he lived far away in Florida, about an 18-hour drive from our home in Cortland. Another problem was the cost of building a fireplace. Buying the farmhouse cost almost all our savings, so could we even afford to pay him?
Much to my relief, the drive turned out to be no problem at all. On receiving my call, my uncle, at the age of 65, loaded his suitcase and his tools into his truck and headed to our place. When I asked how much he would charge, he replied, “We’ll figure up a price when the job is finished. Just have coffee and cookies ready when I get there. The more you bake cookies, the lower the price will be.”
My uncle wasn’t joking. As long as I had served coffee and cookies, he could work pleasantly. The man was obviously born with a sweet tooth. For two weeks, the coffee machine never stopped, and the cookies often disappeared before I could put them into the cookie box.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The construction was slowly coming to an end.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I found the paycheck (工资) lying quietly next to the coffee machine.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Finding happiness in life
When John walked into the dining room in the morning, his wife Jenny and his two children, Kevin and Sophie, were sitting at the table. The atmosphere was frosty as John sat down. Sophie, who was only five years old, gave her father a weak smile. Kevin, his teenage son, didn’t look up from his food. Jenny looked at him silently with her arms folded across her chest.
“OK,” John began, “I’m sorry. I know I let everyone down yesterday.”
Kevin looked accusingly at his father. “You missed my music performance at school again! You’ve never come to see me do anything,” he said angrily.
Jenny placed a hand on John’s shoulder. “That’s true! John, you always miss family activities. The last time we had a family outing was five months ago! And I’m exhausted from all the housework.”
As he drank his coffee, John reflected on his life. He had so much to be thankful for: a successful business, a harmonious family and a lovely home. In fact, he had everything he had ever wanted, but he knew something was wrong. He had always believed that with hard work, he could make his family happy. But he realized he was failing. He was spending more time at work and less time at home. He was working in the office until late in the evening and even during weekends. When at home, he was talking on the phone with his clients or sitting in front of the computer reading or writing emails. He was neglecting his family. He hadn’t taken his wife to a nice restaurant for months. Kevin was passionate about music, but John couldn’t remember the last time he saw Kevin perform at a school concert. Sophie was growing up so fast and John had even missed her last birthday party. John realized he had become an absent husband and an absent father.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Later that day, John went to work, determined to make some changes.
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Soon, John felt a big improvement in his life and work.
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Sometimes, making a decision is hard for adults while easy for kids. The Jackson family had been meaning to buy some new furniture (家具) for ages, but somehow they never got round to it. There were always so many other things to do. Then one day there was a big shout from the room of Jason, 12. The rest of the family ran to see what happened.
Jason’s desk had broken. There were bits of wood and pens and papers all over the floor. And in the middle was Jason! “I was just doing my homework.” he said, “and then -bang! The desk broke. Everything fell over. I was so surprised that I fell over too!” Laughed Jane, 5. “That decides it.” said Mum. “We need to buy some new furniture before anything else breaks. Jane needs a new bed. And Jason needs a desk, so that he can do his homework. ”
So that weekend, the family got up early, and set off for the big furniture store outside town. It was huge. There was so much furniture, some of it was arranged like in a real house.
“Look, I’m playing houses (过家家),” said Jane, crawling ( 爬 ) under a table. Jane loved playing houses. “That’s enough,” Mum said, taking tight hold of Jane’s hand. Jane didn’t like it, but she had to stay close. The family chose a new bed for Jane, who was bored now, and tired. She didn’t say much, while the rest of the family discussed which desk to get. Jason had found one he liked but Mum and Dad couldn’t agree.
“It’s too big.” said Mum. “There’s not enough space in his room.”
“It’s too small,” said Dad. “There’s not enough space for his homework. ”
“I think it’s just right!” said Jason.
“Let’s get a cup of tea while we try and decide,” said Mum.“There’s a cafe in the store.” Dad thought this was a good idea. He needed a sit down, he said, and Jason really wanted a milkshake (奶昔). “What do you think, Jane?” asked Mum. Then she looked round. “Where is she? I think she’s jumping on the sofa!”
But there was no sign of Jane on the sofa. Then Jason wondered if she could be lying on her new bed!
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
But there was no Jane on the bed. Mum and Dad were really worried now.
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When Jason pushed Jane softly, she woke up and came crawling out. “What were you doing?” Jason asked.
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9 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。
It was the last day of school, and the long year spent in fourth grade had finally come to an end. It had rained heavily all day, and by the afternoon it became chilly. The sun had dipped below the horizon (地平线) as I got home soaked (湿透) and cold. I rushed into my room and slipped into some dry clothes. Once I had changed, I joined my mother in the kitchen. She had already lit the fire to prepare supper.
The wood soon caught fire, and the warmth spread around the room. I tried to get closer to the fire as my body was shivering with the intense cold. My mother gently rubbed my back and said, “I am proud of you, my little hero,” as I told her how my schoolwork had improved. I remember her bright smile and the joy in her eyes.
My mother started humming the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, “Heal the World” by Michael Jackson. I immediately began to sing with my mother. We would always sing songs like this together. My mother knew how much I loved singing. She always felt sorry that she couldn’t afford to pay for music classes for me.
Life was not easy for us during that period. I was living with my mother after she separated from my dad, which happened the year before when I was in third grade. Sometimes the nights were tedious (单调乏味的) and tiresome as we did not have a television and the batteries in our old radio would often run out. However, I enjoyed the 20 songs that my mother and I sang together. As she hummed the tune and I sang along, I dreamed of a world where performing on stage would be the pillar (支柱) of my life. The turning point of my childhood came after the end of fourth grade. Our neighbor moved away and left his old piano to us.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150个左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
My mother was so happy that she could teach me singing at home with this piano.
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The next term, I became the lead singer of the school chorus, which was one step closer to my dream of becoming a singer and inspiring people with my voice.
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“I’m not putting up a Christmas tree this year. I just don’t have the spirit,” my husband Bill’s mom said sadly over the phone.
My husband’s parents used to have a big Christmas. There were many lights in their yard, decorations hanging from the ceiling, a big well-decorated, freshly cut tree, etc. It was amazing.
But this year would be different. With Bill’s dad passing late that November, it was understandable that his mom’s holiday spirit was nonexistent. Christmas decorating had been something husband and wife had undertaken together for over fifty years, and she simply would not do it alone.
Still, it was heartbreaking to think that not even a tree would decorate their home this year. Phone calls were made to Mom and conversations were made with her children and grandchildren in order to try to bring back her holiday spirit. Yet, it was no use.
That season, every Christmas song I heard in the stores only made me sadder as I thought of the barren (荒芜的) spot in Mom’s heart. There had to be something that could be done to bring some joy back into her life.
One afternoon, while passing a discount store, I saw many fresh green tabletop trees. They were so beautiful. Then I got an idea. I walked into the store, and selected a multi-colored string of lights and many other decorations I could find. Then I grabbed the largest tree, paid for all the things and walked home with four bags in one hand and a tree in the other.
I couldn’t imagine what I looked like, out in the cold, carrying a tree for half a mile. I only knew I felt a boost in my own heart — a boost I hoped Mom would also feel when I delivered the tree to her. And I wanted her to know that if Dad had still been alive, he would have wished her to be happy. If he had seen her unhappy, he would have been sad.
When I got home, Bill saw the tree. I told him that I would give it to Mom.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
But he shook his head, saying, “I wouldn’t give this to her. She’s not going to like it…”
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Just when Bill and I secretly put the tree in Mom’s yard, the door suddenly flew open.
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